National Liberal Party of Romania

The National Liberal Party (PNL) is a conservative-liberal political party in Romania that was founded on 24 May 1875. The party was founded to represent the interests of the nascent local bourgeoisie, and it rivalled the Conservative Party of Romania, which represented the interests of wealthy landowners. The party initially opposed the restoration of King Carol II of Romania to power, but it supported his authoritarianism; the PNL's several governments preceded the rise of the royal dictatorship. During the late 1940s, the Romanian Communist Party cracked down on the PNL, which ceased activity. On 15 January 1990, following the fall of communism, the PNL was re-founded, and it presented itself as the oldest of the European liberal parties and the oldest formally constituted political party in the country. The PNL would continue to be a very important party in the country during the 21st century, becoming the second-largest party in Parliament in 2017, after the Social Democratic Party of Romania.